The Obama administration is utterly steadfast on this point: They will
not suffer a repeat of 2011, when they conducted negotiations over whether
the United States should default. If Republicans go over the cliff and try
to open up talks for raising the debt ceiling, the White House will not hold
a meeting, they will not return a phone call, they will not look at the
e-mails.

The Administration is looking to take the debt ceiling off the table forever.
This is good policy; that Congress should be able to pass laws authorizing
spending but not authorizing the required debt is beyond ridiculous. Also
ridiculous - and irresponsible - is the willingness of the Republicans to use
the debt ceiling to hold the economy hostage. Ending this travesty should be a
priority for the White House.

Klein adds that the White House is ready for the fight now while their
strength is up:

Boehner and the Republicans don’t want to give up the leverage of the
debt ceiling forever, or for 10 years, or even, as John Engler, head of the
Business Roundtable and a former Republican governor suggested, for five
years. But the White House isn’t very interested in compromising on this
issue, as they figure that if there needs to be a final showdown over the
debt ceiling, it’s better to do it now, when they’re at peak strength, then
delay it till 2014 or 2015, when their own vantage might have ebbed.

I would add another advantage. Better - from a political point of view - to
have a recession at the beginning of President Obama's second term that can be
blamed entirely on the Republicans. A recession in the first half of 2013 means
that, most likely, the Democratic presidential nominee can run on the back of an
improving economy by 2016. Alternatively, they run the risk that this recovery,
anemic as it is, gets long in the tooth by 2016. Even worse would be that they
agree to let the Republicans once again hold the economy hostage two years from
now. Politically, if I had to pick between a recession now or closer to the
next election, I would pick now.

The Obama administration is utterly steadfast on this point: They will
not suffer a repeat of 2011, when they conducted negotiations over whether
the United States should default. If Republicans go over the cliff and try
to open up talks for raising the debt ceiling, the White House will not hold
a meeting, they will not return a phone call, they will not look at the
e-mails.

The Administration is looking to take the debt ceiling off the table forever.
This is good policy; that Congress should be able to pass laws authorizing
spending but not authorizing the required debt is beyond ridiculous. Also
ridiculous - and irresponsible - is the willingness of the Republicans to use
the debt ceiling to hold the economy hostage. Ending this travesty should be a
priority for the White House.

Klein adds that the White House is ready for the fight now while their
strength is up:

Boehner and the Republicans don’t want to give up the leverage of the
debt ceiling forever, or for 10 years, or even, as John Engler, head of the
Business Roundtable and a former Republican governor suggested, for five
years. But the White House isn’t very interested in compromising on this
issue, as they figure that if there needs to be a final showdown over the
debt ceiling, it’s better to do it now, when they’re at peak strength, then
delay it till 2014 or 2015, when their own vantage might have ebbed.

I would add another advantage. Better - from a political point of view - to
have a recession at the beginning of President Obama's second term that can be
blamed entirely on the Republicans. A recession in the first half of 2013 means
that, most likely, the Democratic presidential nominee can run on the back of an
improving economy by 2016. Alternatively, they run the risk that this recovery,
anemic as it is, gets long in the tooth by 2016. Even worse would be that they
agree to let the Republicans once again hold the economy hostage two years from
now. Politically, if I had to pick between a recession now or closer to the
next election, I would pick now.